The windowpanes rattled and creaked. Dante looked up from where he was fidgeting with the stylus of his Augmented Reality research notes. Winter was arriving, blown-in on frigid winds with no array of frolicking and singing pegasi to soften the blow.

Dante sank back down into his blanket. He had discovered one of the corners that had been cut to keep the costs of Rainbow Falls Ranch down with the first real cold snap. He looked back to his AR lists, the innumerable references, footnotes, and potential clues caught up in his virtual agent's data trawl.

There was so much that made sense with the two Foci, but more holes. Pre-Diarchy magic at the core, with a host of minor influences, Islamic tinged Hindu with a chaotic component, then Xiaolin Buddhist. The latter made sense if that had been picked up from the ancient adventurer Yaklicia or from an extended stay in Yakyakistan.

"But when were you in a Mughal region or used by a Mughal pony?"

Dante whispered before getting up to shuffle over to the small space he had converted to be his lodge. He briefly opened the manacase and beheld the two items that so vexed him, the Emerald circlet and Amethyst tiara.

"Were you made in Manaspire and given to Yaklicia's group, or did Yaklicia's group bring you to Equestria?" Dante asked the jewelry, knowing he would get no answer.

The only thing he was sure of was that the pieces were powerful. He was now sure that each, at minimum, would be classified as a dual R6 grade Power and Centering focus. That alone made them masterpieces bordering on artifacts...and worth a small fortune.

The thought that he could sell the two, irreplaceable as they were and even accounting for a fences' cut have enough nu-bits to pay a world-class doctor to figure out what was wrong with him had occurred. However, he doubted he would ever hold an equivalent masterwork again if he did that. These were special. He also suspected that it would be the end of his reputation as a Shadowtrotter if it became known he had stolen them from a Johnson during the Granston job. And for those reasons, it was imperative that he not call attention to the fact he still had them. His comrades had largely forgotten about the two purloined Foci once Glass Darkly had convinced them that attempting to pawn them would be like trying to pawn the Pona Lisa. Yet Silky Sheets was getting desperate. The run of jobs had not quite been able to fund the unicorn noble's lifestyle. Nevermind that Silky had expensive tastes. Being reminded that Glass Darkly was holding two Foci that would run a quarter-million nubits each at least, if bought new, would send Silky into a frenzy.

"Desire is the root of all suffering," Dante whispered in rote as if the reminder to himself might change his mind.

Instead he found himself growing increasingly distracted thinking about Silky's antics in making an ass of himself during the latest job. The overly flamboyant stunt with the bathtub. True, they had garnered unwelcome attention, but there had been other options aside from insisting on evacuating the gang-controlled apartment block by flying everyone down to the ground in an ensorcelled bathtub. The drain from that spell had left Silky in a depleted state and necessitated that they break off for a rest which had caused them to miss their targets at the garage. Then noticing the Knight Errant spirit patrol but then failing to understand that a very high force spell would invariably invite scrutiny. Then, of course, his asinine fixation on using the Diamond Dog gang for a gay orgy. Dante wasn’t sure what school had trained Silky but clearly the unicorn noble’s mind had been elsewhere during the lessons involving prudent restraint using magic.

His protests asserting that the Johnson hadn't been clear what he had wanted were almost infuriating as Silky's proclivity to constantly hit on him. Seriously, offering backrubs while making a knowingly lewd look, what was he thinking with those moist come hither eyes and glistening silky soft coat...

Dante's thoughts trailed off...the coarse slate gray fur on his face slowly shifted to fine satiny white as his control slipped. A tendril of glittery aquamarine mane started to flow past an ear as a rosy pink hue began to suffuse his cheeks. All happening as his mind created an image of that scene with its promised back rub.

Dante's mouth snapped shut as he shook his head to clear the image.

"Oh no! No no no NO! By Starswirl’s beard NO! Not in a million years! Discord will be crowned the Princess of Order first and Apple-Zap will forswear ever growing an apple again before THAT happens."

Dante stumbled to the sink and splashed some water on his face which rapidly altered to match his ‘regular’ appearance. The slight pop in his shoulder was as much felt as it was heard. A shiver born in the mix of damp fur and cool air ran from shoulders to haunches, caused a grumbling feeling in his gut and lingered as an unsettling tension in his hips before slowly dissipating.

A long sigh filled the room. Stretching out his back and bending from side to side rewarded him with a few more pops and creaks. Slight tension and a barely felt dull ache in his back near his shoulder blades drew a frown.

“That’s new,” he grumbled, wondering if this was some new symptom or just the result of him spending several days hunched over his research desk.

Moving on he held out his front legs in front of him as he scrutinized them. He couldn’t tell if they were in a long or short phase. One day he would find that he was half an inch shorter, the other a half-inch taller. One day famished, the other unable to find interest in food. Still, there was an effect which was slowly becoming evident, his legs appeared to be slowly thinning out from their sturdy Earther stock towards an aesthetic given far moreover to slenderness. It was to be expected…he guessed, but under the floof of his fur, which he had started making floofier of late, the lines of his body were starting to approach the aesthetics of an overgrown colt than a stallion. He wasn’t sure if this was normal for unicorns, he had never been one....but…had his eyes always been this prominent or was it just the narrower cast of his muzzle?

Suddenly, the idea of becoming a unicorn seemed less appealing. He pondered what the Tartarus he was going to tell the others when eventually it happened and a graceful conical spiral grew out of his forehead. On one hoof he would welcome the end of the blasted headaches. On the other he dreaded the complications it would bring, and the snarky, aggravating comments by Silky Sheets congratulating him for joining the ‘master race.’

A low feeling of hunger welled up…he would need to consider a foray soon. This time more cognizant of the Knight Errant spirits. He would need to start keeping track of them.

He went to put the Foci back in the case. The mystery was still annoyingly unsolved. He had two of the most potent Foci he had ever seen and he couldn’t use either of them without betraying the lie. Especially since their Fixer edIT had hinted that she knew all too well what had happened. He thought back to the third power focus he had briefly held at the museum, the equally mysterious Alicorn Amulet, and the desperate chase. A shame he hadn’t been able to steal that one, he wryly smiled, then he’d have a set of powerful but unusable artifacts.

The smile slowly fell off Dante’s face.

His cold sleep-deprived eyes slowly widened as an inhaled breath got caught in his throat.

“A set….”

He looked back at the Emerald of the Magewood Circlet, the Amethyst of the Songcrest Meridian Tiara, and thought to the Ruby of the Amulet. Images of the Elements of Harmony, the greatest weapon ever used by the Diarchy, and reproduced endlessly across every media screamed through the recesses of his mind.

Outside a griffin fledgling playing in the stunted grass turned to see what the source of the loud shout she had heard was.

A moment later inside Dante was tearing through his notes…

“Why the hell didn’t I assense the damn thing when it was in my hoof,” he cried at himself.

He knew why he had been all of about 3 seconds ahead of a mage he suspected would have been willing to kill to recover what Dante had taken…

The note he had made weeks ago in his research made his heart skip again… “Incomplete…”

Yakbert had noted 5 companions in his history, Woodbound in his, had mentioned 3 artifacts of note.

“If each of them had one, then there's five then and it could be a parallel set to the Elements…,” Dante noted, his notes flying into the log, barely legible.

“There was never any confirmation in magical research circles that the Tree of Harmony was the only one, it was just assumed,” He squealed in joy, before adding to his notes, “potential discovery of the century!!! How to confirm?”

He looked back over the mana case which held 2 of Foci of a set which was at least 3, possibly 5 or 6. It could redefine the balance of power in Equestria.

The smile slowly fell off Dante’s face.

He added another note to his log.

“I am so very, very fucked if anyone learns I have these.”

He thought to Silky and his big mouth trying to impress his fellows at the Couch Mare Club.

“I am so very, very fucked.”

He was still going over his list of things to do when his commlink softly chimed. In between frantically planning of how he was going to set up a new persona to handle his research, between how he was going to research the leads his revelation had suggested, between how he was going to get back on edIT’s good side considering what the Fixer either suspected or knew, he had forgotten.

He briefly considered skipping his appointment, but a little bit of pressure and the resulting soreness from his teeth that answered quickly silenced that idea. Muttering curses, Dante threw on his coat and braced himself for the cutting winds. He made sure that the foci were carefully packed away behind his wards. It was still a hard thing to leave them there, guarded only by a reinforced maglock, deadbolt, and a security guard that was so stealthy that no resident could claim to have seen him in the last six months. It was a horrible situation, but he would have to manage, because there was one thing Dante Haze was sure of and that it was that Silky Sheets, the Couch Mare Club, and anyone else was not getting their grubby hooves on his find, come what may.

Wickham aka Glass Darkly aka Dante Haze shivered as he stepped through the doors into the Bright Smile Family Franchise Dentistry Clinic. A few worn-out mares watched their squalling foals while a handful of other patrons either slept or slumped over in VR. He could tell that a few of them were here courtesy of a long relationship with Cram. The beige walls were industry standard, though a cheap Chinese made banner had been tacked up with a half-ass effort around the tops of the walls celebrating the approaching Hearth’s Warming. A speaker with a low background hum supplied public domain Hearth’s Warming carols assuming one could hear them over the squabbling foals.

Wickham stepped forward and a drone at the front desk turned to greet him, an AR overlay flickering to life. A blue and white mare that would have been too attractive to work here in the flesh beamed a smile. Wickham was unsurprised, a few decades back some blue and white mare had become a major crusader for dental health and now it was de facto for dentists to be some mix of cool blue tones.

“Welcome to Bright Smile, do you have an appointment?”

Wickham nodded tuning the drone out, collecting the electronic forms. He only needed a few moments before he turned them back in.

“Sir, you appear to have missed a number of entries. Please fill out your group coverage ID.”

An awkward look crossed Wickham’s face as he answered, “I’ll be paying cash, I don’t have coverage.”

“Please provide your current employer.”

“Irrelevant, I’m paying cash.”

“Please provide your current employer.”

“Fine,” he hissed trying not to be heard, “None, happy.”

“Please provide your former employer.”

“…..”

“Please provide your former employer.”

“I decline.”

“Thank you, I. deKline jewelers noted, but this doesn’t seem to match your SIN?”

“Listen, you burrito eating goblin of a machine, it doesn’t matter.”

“Error code 14327, Input string not recognized, Resetting,” the face and body of the receptionist froze, flickered out, revealing the drone underneath, as its voice continued robotically.

Wickham noticed a few of the closer mares gathering up their foals from the dingy carpet scared that the probably dangerous grifter of a pony was going to steal them away to sell for drugs to some Griffin Cartel ganger.

“Welcome to Bright Smile, do you have an appointment.”

“Seriously?”

Fortunately, Wickham was saved as one of the few flesh and blood staffers of the clinic came in response to some hidden summons. Her annoyance just managed to show through her personasoft. He couldn’t have said which it was, but it was similar enough to the Perfectly Polite & Peachy Nurse Practitioner routine he had been subjected too during his last time in a hospital.

“Howdy FRIEND! How can Bright Smile help you today?”

“I want my teeth looked at and cleaned.”

“Of course please complete the appointment forms.”

Wickham slid a certified credstick across the counter. “I have paid you, my forms are in order, save for the irrelevant fields. I trust that losing a scheduled appointment and the cash payment associated with it won’t be necessary?”

…..

Wickham sighed in relief as the Head Hygienist initiated the orderly drone by his station. Her emotions were identical to the first mare, and she moved with calculated efficiency. He briefly assensed. Yep, skill wired. While the majority of her words were spoken with a buttery down-home charm that suggested Ponyville he occasionally caught mumbled mutterings in a language from far further afield, and he noticed that her blue and white dye job was letting a few ochre-colored hairs through along with a portion of a Sanskrit cutie mark.

He debated if he cared as the drone began to poke and prod in time to its litany of harmless scripted questions. All was well until it began cleaning around his front teeth.

“Oww…”

“I’m sorry sir, I’ll try to be gentler, and I do think it would be wise if you got an x-ray, can we take care of that today or is there a better date in the future?”

“Do it.”

The drone went through the steps to x-ray his mouth by rote.

Wickham laid back on the hard plastic seat and waited. Typical, wait an hour for a doctor to rush in, ask five minutes’ worth of questions, proscribe a rote course of treatment, and then rush out. He realized he hadn’t seen the names of any dentists around the clinic. Great. That meant probably more skill wired med school dropouts.

The dentist finally came in and checked Wickham’s file, flicking on an AR screen, the x-rays were transmitted.

Glancing at them briefly, the wired dentist stopped and then looked back. The spell of the routine broken.

“Hmm….Interesting…”

A scowl started in the corners of Wickham’s mouth…there was never a time that a medical professional saying that something was interesting was a good thing for the poor host of the curiosity.

The chief hygienist wandered into the room likely to protest that the schedule was being violated only to get pulled in by the Dentist. A moment later and all three of the living employees of Bright Smiles were muttering amongst themselves.

“Un-erupted juvenile teeth?”

“Wrong shape…but?”

“…could be coming in sideways?”

“…these masses in the upper jaw almost look cancerous, but my ‘soft keeps wanting me to sign off on protocol 1568-7-2 that I’ve followed the guidelines for handling a venomous patient.”

“Yeah my ‘soft to is going nuts, I’m getting back a half dozen diagnosed problems.”

Wickham’s heart fell into his stomach. The hygienist moved just enough for him to see, the three of them not realizing their patient was still wearing his audio-enhanced earbuds and glasses.

“I think we need to call this in to corporate,” the dentist began, “these almost look like…well I never seen anything like them.”

The dentist moved just enough for Wickham to see, though in that moment he forgot the pretense. There in full AR glory was why his upper jaw was so tender.

The roots of his front teeth were being eaten away by a row of teeth forming from the bone of his upper jaw, each new millimeter of growth pushing on the base of the tooth above it. Just like he was a young colt about to have his adult teeth come in. Except unlike the teeth they were replacing these were sharp. Even then they didn’t hold a candle to the two daggers forming at the forward corners of his mouth, rooted deep in his upper jaw, two tumorous looking masses just behind them, one for each tooth. Through the middle of each tooth ran a void.

Dante gulped, heart pounding, he knew what those were… For a split second he ran his tongue over his teeth, still unable to feel the invaders forming underneath, the teeth of a predator still hidden, unable to feel...his fangs.

He tore out of the seat in time as he hit the dentist with the full force of his magic. Controlling the stallion’s actions. He demanded his file, all of it, every record, and every scrap. Alarms were going off as the clinic fell further off schedule. The best he could do was alter the memories of the staff after he had them delete the camera footage.

Data chip in hoof Wickham, aka Glass Darkly, aka Dante Haze walked out the door and disappeared into the cold biting winds of the evening. Suddenly the idea of turning into a unicorn didn’t seem so bad.

Author's Note

Game Events: After the bitter fight at the museum against hardened mercenaries. The team lobbied edIT for something a bit easier. This turned out to be a hit for a Johnson (anonymous job) on a Diamond Dog gang involved in the drug trade. Tracking them back to their original base of operations at a gang-controlled high-rise apartment block revealed a stash of drugs but no Diamond Dogs. Evidence suggested that they were laying low. With Silky Sheets (PC) badly drained as a result of the spells, he cast during an overly gratuitous escape and Vixie (PC) marginal from being accidentally exposed to a drug cache. A brief rest was taken, which resulted in the gang moving from a garage to a slum residential area. We caught up with them, and Silky Sheets (other Player Character) decided that instead of the traditional 'teach them a lesson' via broken legs and whatnot that he was going to mind control them into having a gay orgy in the street and brushed aside the reservations of the rest of the team. This was accomplished after a brief but intense fight but which did draw the attention of a patrolling Knight Errant Security spirit which complicated extraction. The Johnson made a partial payment for the run, noting that a majority of the gang members had at least been roughed up, and some shot. But he had wanted them sidelined during lengthy medical recoveries, not simply humiliated.

Shadowrun Game Conversion: Troll > Diamond Dog.